Lumiere Ventures and ElevenLabs collaborate to honor Alain Dorval in Sylvester Stallone’s new film

We’re collaborating with Lumiere Ventures to honor Alain Dorval, the iconic French voice of Sylvester Stallone. For nearly five decades, Dorval’s baritone brought Stallone’s iconic characters—like Rocky Balboa and John Rambo—to life for French audiences. Following his passing in February, plans are underway to recreate Dorval’s voice using our AI technology for Stallone’s highly anticipated action thriller, Armored, set to premiere on Amazon France in March 2025.

When Lumiere acquired the French rights to the film, they faced a challenge: how to preserve the connection audiences had with Stallone’s voice after Dorval’s passing. The dubbing was completed with a new actor, but they approached us to explore another option - using AI to recreate Dorval’s voice. Together with Dorval’s family, we worked to transform the recording, preserving the voice French audiences know and love.

The project is still underway, with edits continuing ahead of the film’s March 2025 release. A French dub already exists with a different actor, but recreating Alain Dorval's voice is a tribute to his decades-long role as Stallone's voice. Supporting this mission, Dorval's family has partnered with the filmmakers at no cost to help preserve his impact on French cinema. Together with Lumiere and Dorval’s estate, we’ve agreed that if the quality bar isn't met, the film will be released with traditional dubbing - the family retains full control and will decide if and how this AI dub is used.

This marks the first time our technology is being used in a major motion picture. For us, it’s about showing how AI can support storytelling by respecting artistry and tradition. Recreating Dorval’s voice is a way to preserve what’s meaningful to audiences while creating new opportunities in film. It also marks a symbolic occasion for us: We founded ElevenLabs to let stories reach audiences in their native languages without losing the emotion and nuance that make them resonate.

“AI doesn’t replace the magic of human creativity—it opens new doors for it,” said Mati Staniszewski, CEO of ElevenLabs. “Recreating Alain Dorval’s voice is a chance to show how technology can honor tradition while creating new possibilities in film production.”

Lumiere Ventures specializes in bringing high-profile Hollywood content to international audiences. Armored shows a fresh approach to foreign-language cinema. AI dubbing lets more people enjoy films in their native languages. Our partnership aims to make great Hollywood films more accessible across regions and languages, allowing filmmakers and distributors to meet growing global demand for localized content, without compromising quality or cultural connection.